


Waverly Earp Has No Friends

by Lady Eldritch Abomination (Lady_Eldritch_Abomination)



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Aaaaaannnnggggst, Abuse, Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - 1990s, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awful 90s fashion, Bullying, Depression, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, I wish Itzhak Perlman was my dad, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internalized Homophobia, Mercedes is a bad bitch, Music, Nostalgia bait, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pointless period piece, References to Oasis (Band), Trigger Warnings Galore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27432427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Eldritch_Abomination/pseuds/Lady%20Eldritch%20Abomination
Summary: Growing up in a small town is hard for anyone, but for Sixteen year old Waverly Earp it's pure torture. A social pariah, struggling with eating disorders, depression, and self-harm the only thing that keeps Waverly Earp afloat is her music, a talented pianist, Waverly is desperate for more. When big city girl Nicole Haught shows up in Purgatory maybe she can show Waverly that life is worth living.TW: Some heavy themes about depression, loneliness, self-hatred, eating disorders, self harm, and other things to come.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 21
Kudos: 127





	1. Chapter 1

_Waverly Earp Has No Friends_

_Chapter 1_

* * *

The songs of autumnal birds soared through the chilly morning air into the open second story window of a farmhouse, inside a bedroom, painted a humble shade of white housed a young woman. She stood in front of her mirror bare as the day she were born studying the physicality of her own burgeoning womanhood, she ran a gentle hand along the soft curve of her thigh as she inspected herself, her fingers moved to her lap and up her flat stomach and her face twisted into a soft frown as her thumb brushed against the clearly visible rib in her chest. She dropped her hand and let out a sigh and stepped up to her dresser and opened the drawers selecting her outfit for the day. A knee length flowing skirt in a deep gray complimented by an offwhite blouse that she buttoned all the way up to the top, the collar slightly loose around her lithe neck. She took her crucifix and said a prayer before looping the necklace over her head snapping it into place. 

“Are you up yet?” A voice called from downstairs, the voice belonged to the girls Aunt.

The girl rolled her eyes and took her glasses from the tray where she kept them every night and placed the large round metal frames upon her nose just as she left her room, shutting the light off behind her. 

The teenager briskly made her way downstairs to the kitchen where her Aunt was waiting in front of the coffee pot, the rich brown liquid slowly dripping down to fill the glass pot. The older woman turned a frown at her niece. 

“You know it would be nice if you responded once in a while when I call you.” Her tone was stern, but the girl knew that she didn’t mean it as anything more than a playful chide. 

“Sorry.” She stepped past her aunt to grab a piece of toast from a plate next to their toaster which she quickly bit into the bland taste of white bread coating her taste buds in its familiar comforts.

The girl's Aunt placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, a familiar gesture of comfort, but for her the gesture held nothing of the sort. 

“I’ll try to be more responsive Gus.” Her retort seemed satisfactory to Gus as she retracted her hand returning it to her side. 

“Curtis is already out in the fields so I’ll take you to school today. Alright?” Gus leaned in towards the counter. 

“Alright.” 

After breakfast the girl and her Aunt filed their way into the older woman's car, an old pickup truck, the same her uncle had owned since before she had moved in with them ten years prior, the wheel wells bore rust now along with several spots along the lower levels of the trucks doors. The girl leaned her elbow up against the door, blankly staring out the window at the trees in the distance as her aunt fired up the engine and pulled out of the driveway onto the gravel roads that cross stitched countryside that she called home. 

The pair sat in silence for a long while, comfortable at first, the radio droning along the sounds of song the girl had never heard before. She turned her head back and turned up the radio just a notch just as the song was coming to a close. 

“Annnyway that was ‘Wonder Wall’ from Oasis’ new album ‘What's the Story Morning Glory’ Releasing tomorrow October 2nd. Call ahead to 666-253-1996 to book a reserve copy, ask for Bobo! Once again that's Triple six, two-five-three, nineteen-ninety-six.” The deejay rattled off the same spiel he’d given every day for the past week. 

Gus’ lip turned up into a little smirk. “You like that band? Oasis?” She asked with a chuckle. 

“Not really.”

Gus’ smile dropped. She breathed out a heavy sigh. “Waverly… Are you holding up alright?” She reached over to give her niece’s knee a comforting squeeze only to have her hand stopped. 

“Can we just get to school?” Waverly muttered, pulling her glasses off her face she reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, she began to clean her glasses, slowly wiping the grime off of the lenses. 

Gus retracted her hand and reset it on the steering wheel. “Waves you know you can talk to your Aunt about anything even if-”

“I got a letter from Wynonna.” The girl put her glasses back on her small nose, the lenses blowing up her eyes even bigger than the brown orbs already were. “She’s in Greece now. Apparently.”

Gus nodded but didn’t say anything in response. 

“I wish she’d stop writing to me.” Waverly leaned back into her seat, slinking down into the cloth bench seat of the pickups cab.    
  
“Maybe you should tell her that Waverly.”

“How long has it been since she left?” Waverly absentmindedly fiddled with the hem of her skirt. 

Gus leaned her elbow against the door, resting her chin on top of her hand. “I think it’s been 5 years…” She trailed off as Waverly scoffed, ending the conversation as she turned away from Gus once again. 

Her aunt began to speak but decided it was better to leave her alone for the time being, not that there would have been much time to talk anyway as Gus pulled into the parking-lot of Purgatory High School, the boxy facade contrasting against the open fields off in the distance. The school was the only one in the county, so some kids came in from nearly an hour away, Waverly was lucky to only live about fifteen minutes away, or unlucky depending on one's outlook. As Gus pulled up to the front of the school Waverly grabbed her bag and began to exit the truck. 

“Hey are you doing anything after school?” Gus spoke up.

Waverly rolled her eyes. “Am I ever.” She pushed open the door and hopped out, strolling up to the entrance, hands stuffed into her pockets and her head angled down. 

Less than a hundred yards behind Gus’ truck an unfamiliar car pulled up to the school Gus watched in her rearview mirror as the brand spankin’ new jaguar approached her and stopped just behind her. “Who is that…” She mumbled to herself just as the passenger door swung open and a girl stepped out, 

A tall, athletically built ginger stepped her chuck taylor clad feet onto the pathway leading up to the entrance of the school. She waved back at the people driving the car, Gus presumed they were her parents, and strolled into the school like she was the Queen of the world.

Gus couldn’t help but scoff at her. “Another damn rich kid.” She drove off, not wanting to hold up the line of cars any longer. 

Inside Waverly made her way to her locker, weaving in and out of the bodies crowding the hallway, she ignored them and they ignored her, the same as every day. She stepped up to her locker and opened it, the lock on the lockers door was so worn that it didn’t even matter if she put in the combination anymore, the door swung open obediently to anyone who asked it. Luckily that had never been an issue for her. She knew someone had been breaking into lockers, pillaging their contents for money and any other valuables they could find, but not Waverly. Her locker was left untouched. She’d thought about asking for a new locker at the start of the year, but it hadn’t been a problem yet, why make a fuss. She acquired her books and headed to homeroom for the day, taking a seat at the back of the classroom Waverly reached into her bookbag and pulled out what appeared to be a hardcover copy of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, turning open to her bookmarked page she began to read. 

_ Mostly it was the closeness. It made my throat ache, wanting to speak of it.  _

_ I remember we were both watching the sun slowly go down over one end of the beach, making the sky to the west pink and yellow. I remember the water lapping gently against the pilings and the shorte, and a candy wrapper -- Three Musketeers, I think-- blowing along the beach. Annie shivered. _

_ Without thinking I put my arm across her shoulders to warm her, and then before either of us knew what was happening, our arms were around each other, and Annie’s soft and gentle mouth was kissing mine.  _

Waverly paused, a bead of sweat had formed upon her brow as she read, she swallowed a lump in her throat that she hadn’t realized had been there before she returned back to her book, turning the page perhaps just a little too eagerly. 

_ When we did realize what was happening, we pulled away from each other, and Annie looked out over the water and I looked at the candy wrapper. It had gotten beyond the pilings by then, and was caught against a rock. For something to do, I walked over and stuffed it into my pocket, and then I stayed there, looking out over the water too, trying to keep my mind blank. I remember wishing the wind would literally blow through me, cold and pure and biting. _

_ “Liza.” Annie called in a quiet voice. “Liza please come back. “ _

_ Part of me didn’t want to. But part of me did, and that part won. _

Waverly closed her eyes and let dreams of New York City wash over her. She put herself in those shoes. She felt herself being embraced, imagined the sensation of a warm, soft pair of lips pressing against her own, the need and want washing over her, building up in her core. She reached up and touched a finger to her lip, and she wondered ‘Is this what it feels like?’ Of course she didn’t know. How would she? 

The sixteen year old had never been kissed, never been held, never caressed in that way that she longed for, but she knew as long as she was in Purgatory, such things were a pipe dream. She let out a deep breath and turned her gaze to a group conversing in the corner, Chrissy Nedley, Stephanie Jones even the insufferable Champ Hardy, talking about god-knows-what, maybe planning what to do before the football game this coming friday. Waverly rested her chin in her hands and turned her attention to the front of the room once again as Ms. Lucado, the Literature teacher and Waverly’s first period teacher, clapped her hands just as the 8 AM bell rang signalling the beginning of the day. 

“Alright, let's jump right into it. We have a lot to cover today, get out your copies of ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and open up to chapter 4.”

Just then a knock came on the door to the classroom. Lucado took a glance to see the principal Mrs. Clootie standing just outside. Mrs. Lucado cleared her throat. “Excuse me for a moment…Pair up with someone and discuss chapter 4.” She quickly exited the room shutting the door behind her.

The sounds of desks rearranging in the room filled the air as students filed up next to their friends to talk about just about anything  _ but _ the book in question, Waverly sat still, not bothering to look around at this point. She always ended up partnered with Mrs. Lucado, there was always an odd number of students in the class, 17 in total, and nobody would want to group with her so she simply did them all a favor and didn’t bother asking. 

After five or 10 minutes Mrs. Lucado returned to the classroom, the familiar ‘Teachers Smile’ carved into her visage showed that whatever had happened she was not particularly happy about it, but the woman put on her best attempt at hiding it anyways.

“I have exciting news class! We have a new student joining us!” She clapped her hands and soon the classroom followed suit as she beckoned the person standing outside in. Waverly glanced up at the person, thumbing down the corner of her page trying not to lose her place. She could have sworn their eyes locked together as the girl stepped into the classroom, marching up to the front of the room, a slight anxiety visible in her tight visage but Waverly couldn’t help but stare, much like the rest of her class. 

There was only one way the sophomore could think of to describe the girl standing at the front of the room. Gorgeous. Her fiery mane of wavy red hair, framing her face, high cheekbones dotted with freckles, and her slightly swollen lips that pulled tight her cute little dimples. Not to mention her figure, tall and fit, this girl put Lucy Lawless to shame. Waverly felt her cheeks tinge a rosy red and she looked away from the girl back down to her desk. She swallowed heavily as she turned to her right, the only empty desk in the class was right next to her. A sweat broke out on her forehead and her heart beat in her ears, a small panic attack coming on. 

At the front of the classroom, the tall redhead, dressed in double denim and a bright red pair of chucks shifted on her heels and cleared her throat turning to Mrs. Lucado. 

The blonde teacher smiled and turned back to her class. “This is Nicole Haught, she’s joining us all the way from Kansas City.” She nodded to Nicole. “Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself Nicole.”

Nicole chuckled anxiously. “R-right. So I’m Nicole...you can call me Nic or Nikki or whatever really. I'm hoping to join the swim team this spring and I think I’m going to be playing Violin in the orchestra here.” She scratched the back of her head trying to come up with something else to say but Mrs. Lucado saved her from any further information. 

“Well we are most certainly happy to have you here Nicole. Aren’t we class?” 

The students began to clap, a little lethargic, but of course the early Monday was to blame. Nicole looked around and nodded her head in appreciation. 

“ Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate, welcome to Purgatory.  Why don’t you have a seat in the back there next to Miss Ear- Miss Waverly.” Lucado cleared her throat holding her hand up towards Waverly.

The teen stared down hard at her desk as Nicole approached her, swinging past her into the desk and its attached chair. Waverly glanced over at her as she settled in, studying her as she moved, the way her skin tensed and released, the flesh tight against her muscular form Waverly pulled her eyes away and she clutched at her rosary, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on class, away from the gorgeous new student.

This was going to be a rough hour.

Lucado spun around and began to scratch something onto the chalkboard. “A little review before we jump into chapter four.” She turned back to the class. “In chapter three we began to see how Holden Caulfield interacts with his peers, we learned about his distaste for what?” The class remained silent. “Phonies. Holden Caulfield despises phonies, and what is a phony?” She folded her arms and looked out on her students with a furrowed brow. 

“Champ what is a phony, in the words of Mr. Caulfield?” She asked the clearly inattentive football player.

Champ, who had been turned around in his desk talking to B-train clumsily fumbled back towards the front. “What was the question?” The class burst out with laughter. Champ grinned like an idiot, a wide empty smile. 

“What is a phony. Mr. Hardy.” She spoke sternly, no humor was to be found in her. 

Champ paled a little. “Um...like it's something fake right?” He slumped back confidently. 

“That is the general idea of a phony, but can anybody here tell me what exactly does Holden define as a phony?” 

Nicole raised her hand, her face was flat. 

“Yes Miss Haught?”

“A phony is someone who disguises their inner feelings. Someone who intentionally acts a certain way on the surface, but deep down it is a lie. Holden is surrounded by phonies, the boys at his school and even his brother, who writes for movies, something Holden avidly hates, as he continually emphasizes throughout the book.” She spoke concisely, expanding and explaining without need for irrelevant padding. Waverly turned her head up to look at her neighbor. Maybe she actually knew something unlike the rest of the idiots at her school.’ The girl mused. 

Lucado snickered. “Well somebody certainly did their homework. Nicole is completely right. A phony is someone who pretends to be a way they aren’t.” She scratched down the definition on the chalkboard and underlined it twice in a quick motion. 

“Now In chapter three we are introduced to a few of Holden's classmates, namely Ackley, a boy Holden finds supremely irritating, who barges into Holden's room while he tries to read. Holden, naturally begins to pick apart the boy's habits, his poor hygiene and pedantic questioning. We are also introduced to Holdens attractive, popular roommate Stradlater, who Ackley actively despises.” She turned back to the class once again. 

Waverly found Ms. Lucado’s lecture is near impossible to pay attention to. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of Nicole seated next to her, frequently glancing up at the girl, studying every chiseled line of her face, not to say it was masculine at all, she was a vision of feminine beauty.

Nicole's eyes flicked over to Waverly, their eyes locking together once again, Waverly froze, gazing deep into her green eyes. Nicole gave her a soft smile and a knowing wink, before breaking their locked vision. 

Did she imagine that? Waverly could have sworn she saw understanding in Nicole's eyes. She had heard things were different in big cities, but maybe they were much more different than she thought. She swallowed. 

“Alright with the last five minutes of class, get with the person next to you and discuss a theme you noticed in chapter four.” Ms Lucado stepped away from her presenting podium and over to her desk where she pulled out her office chair and took a seat. 

Nicole turned to Waverly and leaned in. “So. What's something that stood out to you?” She cocked her head to the side, a slight smirk tinged her lip upward. 

Waverly cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses nervously. “W-what?” She stammered out. 

Nicole leaned in further. “Do I make you nervous?” 

“N-no.” Waverly blurted out maybe a bit too loudly, her classmates eyes flicked to the pair of girls, but just as quickly their attention was lost. 

“No you don’t make me nervous…” Waverly gathered her composure and sat up in her seat. 

Nicole folded her arms and nodded slowly. “Good. I’m glad.” She bit her lip, her eyes wandered up and down Waverly's lithe figure, studying her shallow curves. 

Waverly couldn’t believe how much attention that Nicole was giving her, it made her nervous, her own sapphic inclinations one of the many faults on her. She wondered if Nicole was the same…

“So what’s a theme that stood out to you?” Nicole repeated. 

Waverly leaned back in her uncomfortable plastic seat and let out a heavy sigh. “The complicated nature of adolescent sexuality.”

“Is sexuality something you often think about Waves?” Nicole asked with a low chuckle just as the bell rang. The girl quickly pushed herself up out of her chair and without another word she was gone, leaving one Waverly Earp silently stunned, an unfamiliar feeling carved its way into her chest and she left the classroom, lost in thought. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you guys seemed to enjoy the first part, so here's a second part! I'm kind of just writing this as I go so please don't be afraid to tell me I've messed up something.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!
> 
> https://youtu.be/cVYH-7QGE-A Here's the piece Waverly plays, Arabesque No. 1, Debussy
> 
> https://youtu.be/oeETRRsj1Ek and this is what Nicole plays, minus piano accompaniment, obviously. 
> 
> Thanks again :)

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Nicole stared down at her schedule, brow furrowed as she struggled to read the messily scratched out list. She ran down the list once again to make sure she was on the right hour, the last hour of the day, finally the class that she had been waiting for all damn day. 

The redhead spun back on her heel and using her long legs quickly pushed herself along to her locker, spun the lock and swung it open, the as of yet unadorned metal box housed a few of her smaller textbooks that the ginger could actually fit into her locker alongside one of her most prized possessions, a simple elegant leather bound rectangular violin case. 

Just the sight of her violin made Nicole smile, she raised up her hand and traced her long fingers along the leather edge of the case, finding the handle, she pulled it out carefully and slung it over her shoulder. She closed and locked the door just as quickly as she had opened it and off she went to orchestra. Back at her old highschool Nicole had been a bit of a hotshot, concertmaster of the Varsity Orchestra, a high ranking soloist at every major festival in both Kansas and Missouri, she couldn’t help but be excited about whatever challenges awaited her here at Purgatory High. 

Purgatory High School, originally designed to be a STEM magnet school by some overzealous fool named Robert Svane with pipe dreams to turn Purgatory from a small local agricultural town into a booming commerce sector, had since, much like the rest of the town, completely given up on that dream falling back into the standard high school format, but unfortunately Purgatory High was built in such a way that it completely lacked a dedicated music room. 

Luckily what Purgatory lacked in foresight it more than made up for in Jesus. Just across the small parking lot from Purgatory High sat a lonely chapel, an old remnant from the towns history as a stop along the Santa Fe trail, which was used by Purgatory High as a multipurpose art building. Father Juan Carlo, the pastor, was more than happy to allow the young students to use his humble church for their purposes.

Waverly Earp slid open the door to the inner sanctum of the chapel and made her way through the pews up onto the pulpit where an old well loved grand piano sat. She ran her fingers along the chipped lacquer of the pianos lid and opened it up into the half open position, the sunlight coming through the stained glass making the well worn strings of the piano glimmer in the light. Waverly smiled and moved to the bench, already perfectly adjusted for her small body, she pressed her skirt back against her legs and sat down, simultaneously lifting the key lid revealing the 88 keys, made of real ivory, the piano in question was a Steinway & Sons Model B built sometime in the 1920's, a masterpiece of musical design. Waverly closed her eyes and placed her fingers along the keys and her feet on the pedals. 

She took in a slow deep breath and slowly began to play, her fingers dancing over the slightly worn down ivory keys as the sounds of Debussy’s Arabesque no. 1 reverberated from inside the piano out into the antechamber of the church filling the completely empty building with the impressionists’ music. Waverly was lost to the world, her eyes closed she moved and swayed her entire body with the music, lifting and depressing the sustain pedal in perfect rhythm with her fingers. 

At the open door of the church Nicole Haught stood, mouth agape in awe at the incredible girl before her, the redhead found herself completely entranced in the other girls song, the counterrythem of triplets in the treble and eight notes in the bass gave Nicole chills as she stood, completely entranced. 

“She’s fantastic isn’t she.” 

Nicole jumped with a start as a voice spoke in her ear. A woman, with red hair just like Nicole's smiled, stacks of sheet music in her arms. “I assume you’re Nicole? I’m Ms. Gardner, most of the kids just call me Mercedes though.” She stepped around Nicole into the church. “Come, the other kids will be here soon. Since it’s the very end of the day I don’t run a tight ship here.” She waved Nicole after her, who was compelled to follow even as she was completely entranced by the powerful chordal section of the piece.

“I spoke with your old teacher before you came here and they had very good things to say about you you know?” She chuckled but her laugh turned into a sigh. “Well I wish I had better news to tell you but this town...well it isn’t exactly music heavy.” She sat her things down on the first pew and slumped her bag into it as well. 

“Get your fiddle out and play me something Haught-shot.” Mercedes chuckled and shifted aside to allow Nicole to actually put down her case, which still hung from her shoulder. The redhead swallowed. “Um...I don’t really have anything prepared but I can play a partita or something…” She muttered, setting the case down on the pew she flipped the spring loaded locks open and lifted the lid of the case revealing the dark lacquer of her violin, shining lightly in the colored sunlight that bathed through the windows, Nicole grasped the instrument by its thin neck and lifted it out of the case, taking her shoulder rest from its special place in the inside pockets of her case, snapping it onto the underside of her Violin, she ran her hands along the wooden shaft of one of her three bows fastened in place on the lid of the case, she selected one, a french bow with full white horse hair and tightened it into place. 

Waverly drew her piece to a close, ritarding to the final chords, striking the hammers against the strings and allowing it to ring out. She opened her eyes and turned around on the piano bench, a lump in her throat forming as she watched that beautiful city girl prep herself to play, Waverly studied the little details of her face, her dimples, inadvertently bringing a smile to her own face. 

Nicole coughed sheepishly and raised her Violin to her shoulder, shifting it into position. “How about Praeludium and Allegro? Kriesler?” She asked Mercedes who nodded in approval. “Perfect, let’s hear it kid.” The teacher crossed her legs and leaned back into the pew.

Waverly found herself watching nearly as intently, Nicoles long fingers took their position on the fingerboard and she brought her bow up to the string and she began to play, the string instantly responding to her powerful bow-strokes ringing out the powerful quarter note melody, Waverly couldn’t help but lean in watching Nicoles fingers move deftly, smoothly, quick yet controlled as she approached the rubato section, the high notes ringing well above the reverberating lows, Nicole slowed her bowstroke holding out the apogitura before she immediately jumped into the cadenza, her fingers speeding up along with her bowstrokes every note coming out clear despite the muddy nature of the chapels reverb as she came to a close on the Praeludium section. 

Other students had begun to file into the church by now, some paying the new girl no mind, others stopped and stared watching her fingers fly as she moved into the Allegro, her bow deftly bounced between strings, the girl completely lost in her music, rythmicly moving her body along with the music, leaning down into herself as she moved into the doublestop chords and arpeggios, Waverly knew she was staring, but she didn’t feel the slightest bit of embarrassment, and she wasn’t alone, by this point most of the people in the chapel watched Nicole, entranced in her beautiful music. Waverly could see sweat forming on Nicoles brow as she assaulted her violin, her french braid falling out as she moved. 

She could hear chatter coming from her classmates, muttering and gossiping about the new girl as she built up her intensity even further, Waverly was lost, her heart pounded in her chest watchning Nicole move, her breathes grew heavy and she felt perspiration build up, she grasped hold of her rosary and held on tight, the silver cross digging into her palms. Waverly had never felt this way before, certainly not this intensely and all Nicole had to do was play before her? 

The passion of her performance, Waverly could feel her cheeks redden and she thought she might go crazy if she had to endure this for even one more minute, luckily as Nicole lifted her bow and dropped it back down onto the string, in an act of what she could only assume was divine intervention a loud pop resonated through the hall as Nicole’s ‘A’ String snapped, half of it flying across the room, the silver string smacking into the wall. 

Nicole stood, stunned, she had blacked out, leaving herself to her inner passions to remember how the piece went, she lifted her eyes from her now three stringed violin and chuckled nervously, breathing heavily she turned to Mercedes. 

“How was that?” She asked biting her lip anxiously suddenly realizing just exactly how much of the center of attention she currently was. 

Mercedes gave Nicole a satisfied nod. “Excellent performance Miss Haught. See me after class” She chuckled and stood up from the pew. “Alright kids enough gawking, get set up, we have a concert to prepare for.” She clapped her hands together getting their attention. She turned to Waverly still seated at the piano bench. 

“Waverly we’re going to spend the first half of class working with the strings so why don’t you show Nicole around.” She instructed. 

Waverly and Nicole locked eyes once again. Nicole gave Waverly a kind smile and stepped to her case once again, putting her violin away, the instrument sufficiently out of commission for the day. As soon as she locked up the case she turned back to find Waverly already halfway out of the room. 

Nicole clicked her tongue and jogged after her, catching up quickly. “Hey wait up!” She used her long legs to weave around in front of Waverly just as they exited the main chamber of the chapel. 

Waverly yelped and jumped back a step looking up at the much taller woman. She swallowed. “R-right I’ll just sh-show you around the chuch…” Waverly stammered backing up into the wall. 

Nicole furrowed her brow studying Waverly’s face. “Right…” She trailed off stuffing her hands into her pockets she followed Waverly as she took a narrow flight of stairs up. 

This wasn’t going nearly as Nicole had imagined, since they had gotten upstairs her guide hadn’t spoken a word to her aside from basic guidance. Well at least she knew where the damn bathroom was, Nicole mused. 

“This is the balcony that Father Juan Carlo sometimes gives sermons from.” Waverly tapped her hand on a closed doorframe and quickly moved past it to the next area.

Nicole reached out her hand and grabbed hold of Waverly’s “Now wait a second, you’re just gonna tell me about a balcony but you’re not going to show me?” She asked with a low chuckle as Waverly turned a bright red and stole her hand back. 

Waverly sighed and nodded cooperatively. “I guess that’s only fair.” She muttered, swinging the balcony doors open revealing the wrought-iron railed balcony that overlooked the courtyard of the church as well as the parking lot of the school. The view stretched on and on, the flat landscape dotted with occasional treelines and corn raised high in the fields. 

Nicole took in a deep breath and leaned against the railing. “Wow… You can see forever here.” She turned back to face Waverly. “You’re a fantastic Pianist you know.” 

Waverly turned away, holding her arms to herself, opting to not respond. 

Nicole sighed and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I mean I thought it was wonderful at least.” She patted the spot next to her on the railing beckoning Waverly to join. 

The smaller teen looked up at Nicole and bit her lip contemplating,but eventually she gave in and stood with her leaning against the railing as well.

"I'd tell you that you're a fantastic violinist but I think you already know that don't you..." Waverly looked away from Nicole and out over the school to the fields beyond. 

Nicole gave Waverly a sheepish grin. "I don't know about all that but thanks..." She chuckled and nudged Waverly with her elbow, the smaller girl jumped in response, moving away from Nicole. 

Nicole sighed and turned to look at Waverly now, the pair stood in silence, but it was a comfortable silence, neither girl wanting to break it as the orchestra got set up below them, eventually Waverly wordlessly stepped back from the railing and back inside the church, disappearing into the darkened hallway, leaving Nicole in solitude. 

About an hour later rehearsal was over and Nicole made her way down to speak with Ms. Gardener, she spotted Waverly at the piano, carefully organizing her sheet music alphabetically before filing it inside a leather bound folder. Nicole wanted to go talk to her before she left, but she figured she should probably talk to Mercedes first, her eyes shifted from the pianist to the director, still standing on her raised podium, baton stuffed in between her painted lips as she scratched down something on the score of her music, Mercedes eyes lifted and met Nicoles and she raised a single finger urging Nicole to wait just a moment, which the redhead was certainly happy to do. 

Waverly, out of the corner of her eyes watched as several students greeted Nicole, making friends already. Good for her, she thought filing the last of her music away she closed the folder and stood up from the bench, she gently closed the lid of the piano, gingerly slipping her fingers out of the lid just as it dropped into place with a soft thud. She looked over to see Ms. Gardner approach Nicole. 

Nicole looked up from where she was seated at Ms. Gardner and shot up to her feet. "You wanted to see me?" She asked, honestly unsure of what Mercedes was going to say. 

The older of the two redheads chuckled and nodded at Nicole. "Yes I did..." She stepped back and leaned on her back foot. "Look...I hate to do this, especially since you're so obviously a very talented musician...but it's already two months into this concert cycle Nicole... I don't think I can have you play with the ensemble until after winter break. 

Nicoles face fell and her heart sank. "For real...?" 

"Yes for real unfortunately...It wouldn't be fair to the other kids to push you into the orchestra this late in the cycle... But there is something we can do to make sure you're playing and representing the school." Mercedes reached into her folder and pulled out a brochure, handing it to Nicole who took it eagerly. Across the top of the brochure in old style typeface was the line. "Ghost River County Solo and Small Ensemble Festival" Nicole looked up at Mercedes and then back down to the brochure. She filed through it quickly, reading the date at the bottom of the cover, making sure it was what she thought it was. 

"Ms. Gardner this contest is less than a month away?" She was confused to say the least. 

Mercedes chuckled. "Please Nicole, nobody calls me Ms. Gardner." She folded her arms under her breasts. "And I think you have a good shot of scoring very highly...if you have an accompanist." She nodded towards the young brunette just getting up from the piano bench. "Waverly?" Mercedes called out and Waverly looked up from her music, quickly jogging over to Ms. Gardner. 

"Can I help you with something Ms. Gardner?" Waverly asked, not looking over at Nicole, though she could feel Nicole looking at her. 

Mercedes smirked and put her hands on the two girls in front of her shoulders. "You guys are going to play in the Solo and Ensemble festival."

Waverly and Nicole's eyes went wide simultaneously.

"What?"

"Are you serious?" 

The girls both spoke at the same time. 

Mercedes clicked her tongue. "Ah. None of that, Waverly you only have one piece this cycle, and you were asking for more reccomendations recently, well here you have it. Accompany Nicole. I really think the two of you can make some magic happen." She giggled and clapped happily. "Well I have to go get ready for a date tonight, but you two are welcome to stay as long as you like." She smiled kindly and without another word the older woman turned on heel and left leaving Nicole and Waverly alone. 

The pair once again stood in silence for nearly a full minute before Nicole broke it finally. 

"I guess we need to pick a piece don't we?" She chuckled, and Waberly laughed aloud in response. 

"I suppose we do." She agreed. "But lets wait on it...I've got to get home tonight before my aunt gets worried."

Nicole nodded in understanding. "Alright...Talk tomorrow about it?" A kind smile grew on her face. 

"We'll see." With just as many words Waverly was out the door, heading home. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the great feedback from the last chapters! I hope you all are still enjoying, and I think it's safe to say I will be writing this for at least as long as it holds interest with myself and an audience. 
> 
> As always thank you for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated greatly.

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Waverly shuffled into her aunts waiting truck and set her things down on the floor between her feet. She let out a heavy sigh of relief as her stressors of the day melted away in the relative safety and comfortable familiarity of the vehicle. 

“That bad huh?” Her aunt leaned across the bench seat and nudged Waverly on the shoulder. 

Waverly felt a little smile form on her lips as she turned to face her aunt. “Not any worse than any other day…” She trailed off looking out the window, she could see Nicole finally leave the chapel, her fiery red hair seemed to shine in the afternoon sunlight. 

Gus caught Waverly’s gaze and followed it out watching the tall girl strut into the parking lot like she owned the damn world. “Whats her story?” She asked her niece. 

Waverly shrugged. “Her name’s Nicole...she just moved here from Kansas City.”

Gus rolled her eyes. “More city folk is exactly what this town needs.” She scoffed sarcastically. 

Waverly shrugged. “She seems nice to me… She talks to me...unlike those other assholes…” Her eyes moved to a group of the so-called popular kids surrounding Champ Hardy’s black chevy pickup truck. 

Gus swatted Waverly on the arm, mostly in jest though. “Now you watch your mouth Waverly Earp. Won’t be no swearing in my truck.”

Waverly was lost to the world by now, fully absorbed in thought as Gus left the parking lot. 

Nicole looked around, her fathers car nowhere to be seen, she growled in irritation. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t just drive her damn self, she’d had a License since the day she’d turned sixteen but her father insisted on getting one here and what father wants; father gets. 

“Hey new girl! Over here!” A man’s voice called out to her from across the way, she spotted some of her classmates from earlier in the day sitting around a parked truck. The boy was waving beckoning her to join them. 

And it wasn’t like Nicole had something better to do. She shrugged to herself and strolled on over to the group of kids, she recognized a few others she didn’t. As she got close the boy who had called her over hopped down from the tailgate of the truck and walked up to her, his hair matted back with way too much hairgel. He stopped in front of her. “Sup’ don’t think we’ve met yet.” He chuckled and held out his hand.

“Champ Hardy.” He said, introducing himself and Nicole had to fight back a laugh at the name. 

“Champ huh? That your real name?” She shook the boys hand, instantly regretting it, his hand was sticky, with what she dreaded to think.

Champ snickered. “Nah, it’s Richard, but everybody calls me Champ, three time ghost river county rodeo, actually.” He smirked like Nicole should have been impressed, and perhaps if she was a local she would have. 

“Rodeo huh? You ride horses and shit? That’s pretty cool.” She walked past him to the join the rest of the group, two of the girls she recognized from her English class, the other boy she didn’t. He was tall and handsome, but skinny, lanky almost, she joined the circle as Champ jogged up to catch up with her, he hopped back up on his truck. 

“So yeah this is Nicole.” He inserted in as her got seated like he’d built up to the introduction at all. 

"We know Champ we were there." One of the girls spoke up, the blonde one, Nicole vaguely remembered her as Stephanie.

Champ gawped incredulously. "Well I jusy thought it'd be nice to introduce her is all damn." He crossed his arms in a childlike manner. 

The other girl there, Chrissy patted Champs head patronizingly. "There there Champ." She giggled and turned to Nicole. "We're in your English class if you didn't know."

Nicole nodded. "Yeah… I recall." She looked to the boy she didn't recognize, his expression seemed like he was in the last place he ever wanted to be in at the moment. 

"Well all of us except my Robin here." Chrissy leaned up into him, wrapping her arm around his waist, a gesture he somewhat hesitantly returned. He looked at Nicole, he was just a hair taller than her and nodded. 

"Nice to meet you." He gave her a smile but it was empty. 

Champ having worked his way out of his immature pouting session brought the attention back to himself once again. He reached into a cooler that had been locked up behind him and held out a bottle to Nicole. "Want a beer?" He wiggled the brown glass bottle in front of her. 

Nicole raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "Um...sure...is that the thing to do here?" She chuckled, they were still right in front of the school after all. 

Champ shrugged. "Like...the teachers don't give a shit and Chrissy's dad is like the Sherrif so we're cool." He used his car keys to pry off the top of the bottle and took a swig out of the bottle, his quick motion caused the beer to foam up and shoot into his face. "Shit!" He reeled back as the warm beverage spilled onto him. 

Nicole rolled her eyes and turned to the others. 

Stephanie giggled. "Don't worry he's always like this." She smirked. "Champs a bit slow but he's fun." She walked over and hoisted herself up on the tailgate. 

"So what brings you down to Purgatory?" Chrissy leaned into Robin.

Nicole bit her lip unsure of exactly how to answer that question. "I guess…" she leaned back on her heel. "Well my father got transferred here for work so we all packed up and moved." It wasn't a lie per say, but it wasn't the whole truth. But Nicole wasn't about to reveal to a bunch of country bumpkins she'd just met that she was the real reason they were here. 

"Oh that's not as fun as I was hopin'" Stephanie giggled. "You're from Kansas City right?"

Nicole nodded.

Now Champ having finally cleaned himself up a bit spoke back up. "What's it like living there? In Kansas I mean."

Nicole couldn't help but laugh at that. "Champ you're killing me. Kansas City is in Missouri." She doubled over laughing and soon enough the others joined in while Champ sat there his brow furrowed deep in thought as he drew a map in his head.

"But like why is it called Kansas city...if it's in Missouri?" He stared at his hands like he was going to find the answer to life's great mysteries there. 

"Nobody knows Champ." Chrissy interjected. 

Stephanie leaned in towards Nicole. "That's totally awesome though, y'know I have family in Topeka and that's near Kansas City right?"

Nicole cocked her head to the side. "Yeah...I think it's an hour or two away…"

Chrissy chirped in before her associates had a chance to embarrass her any further. “So there’s a big game this Friday, you should come! There’s always a big tailgate a couple hours before, I heard Perry Crofte is bringing a keg.” 

Nicole chuckled, she knew she should probably show up, for the sake of appearances if nothing else. “I’ll have to ask my parents.” 

The group chewed away at the time, and eventually they fell out of their playful banter and into a steady conversation. A pleasant one, at that Nicole had to admit, mostly. Eventually the topic of class came up.

"Ugh tell me about it, that book Lucado is making us read is so fucking weird. Like what the hell is a Catcher in the rye anyways?" Stephanie whined.

"It's about adolescence Steph, don't question it too much." Nicole shrugged.

"Oh yeah smarty pants I know you've got this shit down. It's too bad Lucado paired you up with that Earp girl though." Stephanie, now on her third beer had struck a nerve in Nicole. 

"Earp girl? You mean Waverly?" Nicole raised an eyebrow. 

Chrissy leaned in and her voice was almost a whisper. "Trust me Nicki you don't wanna have anything to do with that girl."

Nicole furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? What's wrong with her?" 

Champ shook his head. "Her whole family is fucking crazy dude. I mean grade A batshit."

Nicole bit her lip and she felt her fist clench. Sure she barely knew Waverly but she had been nothing but kind to what she saw. But then Waverlys words came back to her, this must've been what she'd meant by 'untouchable'

'What do you mean?"

"Ask Chrissy, her daddy used to work for Ward Earp." Champ was quick to wave off any responsibility to the brunette who held her hands up. 

"Now we don't need to be scaring Nicole off with horror stories." Chrissy turned her head as a black Jaguar pulled into the parking lot. "Well goddamn who does that belong to."

Nicole felt herself fuming inside, but she knew that it wasn't a good idea to push any further for now. Surely they had to be mistaken, this girl who had shown her so much kindness, her intelligence, and her incredible talents. There was no way any of what they were spouting about Waverly was true. 

But part of her mind couldn't help but wonder if it was. She shook her head, maybe she could find something out later. 

"That's my ride. Catch you later." Nicole waved at her classmates and jogged up to the car sitting in front of the school. She opened up the trunk and seated her violin and backpack into it, shutting it she climbed into the passenger's seat. 

"How was your first day Nicole?" The voice of her father from the driver's seat spoke to her. 

Her father was tall and thin, just like Nicole but that was about where their similarities ended. Her father had gone gray when she was still small, her mother had told her it was simply stress from work but Nicole wondered even then if it was normal. His face was hard, chiseled through years of corporate slaving, his brow seemed to be constantly furrowed in a state of irritation.

The teen fastened her seatbelt. "It was fine… they aren't letting me play in the orchestra until next semester, but they set me up with an accompanist for a solo festival in a few weeks." She shifted as her father drove off.

"Festivals are better for scholarships anyways." 

The pair drove in silence for about 20 minutes, weaving through the backroads until the arrived at their destination, their home, far different from the townhouse in the city she had grown up in. Built sometime in the 1890s during the frontier days, the two story manor was far too big for the small three person Haught family. Nicole found great distaste in her fathers overindulgence. 

The man pulled into the driveway and into the open garage door, parking the car next to the other inhabitant of the garage, a white Porsche 911, Nicole's car if her father ever let her drive. 

Her father parked the car and turned off the engine, stepping out of the car, her father adjusting his tailored black suit. 

"Go get your homework started. I'll be in my study, don't disturb me." The man stepped into the house shutting the garage door with a button press near the door. 

Nicole let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as she retrieved her things from her fathers car.. To say her relationship with her father was strained was an understatement. She went into the house, the mudroom spotless, evidently her mother had been busy cleaning today.

She took off her chucks taylors and set them down in the mudroom, she never understood why people wore their shoes after they got home, much like taking off her bra after a long day, the removal of ones shoes symbolised a return to a comfortable state, in her safe place. Her eyes flicked to her fathers office door, firmly shut. 

It was much more comfortable when he was like this, locked away in his office furiously typing away, such was the comfortable state of Isaac Haught, and such was the comfortable state of the Haught household. 

Nicole rounded the corner into the kitchen where her dear mother stood, stirring a pot with a thick wooden spoon. 

“Hey mum.” Nicole leaned against the doorway. 

Her mother jumped a little spinning on heel to face her daughter. “Good lord sweetie, don’t sneak up on me like that.” The woman placed a hand on her buxom chest breathing heavily. 

Nicole’s mother, Marie Haught, was much different than her daughter. Short and slightly plump, a sight of femininity, her features, like much of her were round and soft. The hair atop her head still held the bright blonde tones of her youth. 

“Sorry Mum.” She folded her arms. “What are you making?” 

Marie turned back to the pot. “Chili, I got so caught up cleaning today I didn’t have time to fix something fancier.” 

Nicole smiled softly, enjoying the calming presence of her mother. “You won’t hear me complaining.”

“How was school?”

Nicole let out a sigh. “Not too bad. First day problems aside. Got invited to a game this friday...I don’t know if I’ll go… Oh and they want me to play in some solo festival in a few weeks.”

Marie smiled down into the bubbling pot of chili. “You should go sweetheart, I’ll talk to your father about it.”

Nicole nodded slowly. “Thanks mum… I’m going to go practice.” 

“Alright honey, dinner will be ready in an hourish, so don’t get too into it.”

“I won’t.” Nicole stepped back from the doorframe and walked up the stairs to her room, the door slightly cracked Nicole felt a smile grow on her face, she pushed open the white painted door spotting the red and white furball lazily poised upon her bed. 

She stepped up to the small twin bed and reached out to run her fingers over the little furball curled up waiting for her return. 

“Hey there Jane.” She cooed and knelt down in front of the bed, she pressed her face against the cats body, taking in the warmth of her. “I missed you.” She chuckled to herself, the cat uncurled itself, purring and snuggling up against Nicole. 

The teen set down her things on the floor and wrapped her arms around Calamity Jane, lifting her up, the cat climbed up on her shoulders, wrapping around behind her neck and settling down on the tall girls broad shoulders. She gave Jane a scratch under her chin and looked around her room eyes landing on a polaroid photograph laying face down on her desk. 

Nicole sighed and shifted her shoulders allowing Calamity Jane to crawl off her shoulders, the red fuzzball hopped down and curled up at the foot of the bed. 

The teen slowly approached her desk and picked up the picture, turning it over in her hand she looked at the photo, a younger version of herself stared back, her hair much longer, she wondered how old she was in the picture, 14? 15 at the oldest. She sighed and traced her long fingers over the other figure in the photo, a girl, a little older than Nicole, tall, tan, with dark hair and piercing eyes. Nicole felt a lump well up in her throat and she set the photo down, face down once again. 

She sat down on her bed next to Jane and pulled her into her lap, stroking the gentle feline softly. She shook her head trying to rid the thoughts that intruded into her mind. “Fucking hell…” She muttered, she turned her head and looked out the window of her room, the sun had descended beyond the horizon now and the earth had grown dark in its wake. 

A lone house on the horizon, she wondered who lived there, and as she wondered her mind slipped back to that lonely girl, Waverly Earp, the untouchable girl. Nicole leaned against the windowsill and let out a sigh. She couldn’t understand how what Waverly said was true.

Of course Nicole knew that she had only just met her, she knew that it was silly of her to think she could possibly understand what exactly was going on in the life of one girl she had met that same day, but nothing could be so bad as to warrant being ‘untouchable’

Waverly Earp... 

Nicole couldn’t help but wonder what that beautiful girl was doing right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of right now I'm planning on this work being relatively short, I'm aiming for somewhere between 30-40k words as of now but if I'm still enjoying the writing I may write more. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed some Calamity Jane inclusion. Best girl 10/10- IGN
> 
> Things to look forward to in the next chapter; More music, more gentle flirting, maybe a little bit of character development and worst of all American Football. We'll see!
> 
> Thanks again for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you remember all that stuff I said at the end of the last chapter? It was all a lie, this chapter only has ANGST. 
> 
> In all seriousness there is some mental health stuff in this chapter so if that's disturbing to you, skip over the marked section of this chapter. It's pretty short so it shouldn't affect your understanding if you give it a skip.
> 
> Thanks for reading! And thank you for all you lovely people leaving reviews and kudos! I would love nothing more than to hear more of your feedback. Now then, enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

TW: Graphic Depictions of PTSD

* * *

A few days had passed since Nicole had first appeared in her English class, and just as Waverly had predicted the tall redhead had already fully incorporated herself into the feudal caste system of public highschool, she mused watching the redhead in a jovial nature passing around a football with Champ and Robin, Chrissy and Steph close by. 

Seated alone under a maple tree near the back tables in the courtyard of the school she watched Nicole’s muscles move as she threw the ball, tensing and relaxing, moving underneath her pale skin. Waverly bit her lips and closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened her eyes she intentionally shifted her gaze to Champ. 

The boy was attractive, certainly, he was very popular with the other girls, Waverly knew as much from listening in the bathrooms and hallways to them gossiping about who or what he was currently going after. She studied his well toned biceps and his chiseled jawline. 

He was certainly attractive, even Waverly could admit. So why then did she feel nothing when she thought about him. 

Waverly had never been interested in boys, and they had never been interested in her. Perhaps because she was just too small, perhaps it was because of her familial relations. Her sister was very popular with the boys, at least she was before the incident. According to her own words Wynonna had settled down with some dentist named John Henry Holliday, and at some point Waverly couldn’t recall exactly when, Wynonna had sent a photograph of herself holding a baby girl swaddled in a blue blanket that Waverly didn’t recognize. Hell she barely recognized her sister at all. It had been half a decade, she was only eleven years old when her sister left, she wondered how much Wynonna had changed, but no matter how much she tried to imagine, the only image her mind could conjure up was 15 year old Wynonna still in her nightgown, bloodstains soaked through the front and her great grandfather's long barreled colt single action army in her shaky hands. 

TW

Waverly pushed her head into her hands frantically shaking her head, clenching her eyes closed trying desperately to shake the thoughts from her mind, but it was useless. Tears pooled in her eyes and she began to cry. Sobbing into her arms and shaking as she tried to get out of her own mind, trapped at 8 years old knelt on the floor in the living room of the old homestead, Willa’s lifeless eyes staring up at her. 

“You alright?” 

Waverly jumped up pressing herself against the tree staring up into Nicole’s concerned visage, the redhead knelt in front of her and reached out to touch Waverly’s face, an expression of the urge to wipe her tears away, but Waverly smacked her hand away. “Don’t touch me.” She spat.

TW

Nicole was taken aback at Waverly’s harsh response. “S-sorry. I saw you crying...I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” She stood back up, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her red and black plaid flannel jacket. 

Waverly breathed deeply trying to calm down. She wiped her eyes, puffy and red from her tears. “Just...leave me alone.” She pushed herself to her feet, quickly gathering up her things and shoving past Nicole, she went back into the school leaving Nicole stunned. 

Champ jogged up to Nicole. “I told you not to bother her man. She’s a freak.” He chuckled. 

Nicole sighed and ground her shoe into the dirt. “Piss off Champ.” She brushed past him and went back to the table where her things were. 

Champ watched Nicole with wide eyes. “Jeez man, what the hell did I do.” He whined but soon enough he was running to catch up with Nicole, eager to rejoin his friends. 

Nicole decided that she would have to apologize to Waverly when she saw her later that day for orchestra. 

Unbeknownst to her Waverly Earp had already left for the day. 

Her feet ached as she trudged along, dust and dirt kicked up from the gravel road as Waverly walked along. She sighed and paused a moment to take a breath. She’d only gotten about a mile from the school, it was four miles back to her Aunt and Uncle’s home. She bit her lip and considered turning back, but as soon as the thought entered her mind, it was gone. There was no way she could face Nicole after that outburst, much less work on festival material with her. 

She was startled out of her thoughts by the wail of a siren. She spun around to see a blue and white dodge police car. The car pulled up alongside her and its occupant rolled down their window revealing the moustached face of Randy Nedley. 

“Need a lift Miss Earp?” The man asked, a kind smile on his face. 

Waverly stood there flabbergasted for a moment before she responded. “S-sure.” She muttered and got into the passenger seat of the car. 

Sheriff Nedley rolled up the window and began driving once again. 

The two sat in silence for a little while, eventually Nedley spoke up. 

“You hungry Miss Earp?” He turned towards her with a smile, his graying hair matted onto his head from his badged stetson hat.

Waverly turned towards him and couldn’t help but let out a laugh. She covered her mouth with her hand as she continued laughing at the question. “Aren’t you going to take me back to school?” She finally relaxed back into the, admittedly uncomfortable seat. 

Nedley chuckled. “Well that would be the right thing to do...but I figure I find you walking down backroads alone at 12:30 for a reason, and I assume it ain’t because you’re heading to school. So I ask again, are ya’ hungry, Miss Earp?” The older cop’s moustache twitched as his lips curled up into a smile. 

Waverly snorted with laughter once again, but she relented. “Sure, why the hell not.” 

“Now don’t you make me tell your aunt that you’ been cursing.” Nedley joked and began to make his way to the most popular restaurant in Purgatory, Shorty’s Saloon. 

Soon enough the pair were seated at a booth of the mostly empty bar, a basket of fries between them. Waverly dipped a thick cut french fry into a cup of ketchup and bit into it, enjoying the salty greasy taste. 

Nedley took a sip of his black coffee and sat the cup down. “So, why were you walking down backroads at 12:30, Miss Earp?” 

Waverly sighed and rested her elbows on the table, holding her head up in her hands. She looked down towards the floor, studying an imaginary spot on the hardwood floor. “I...I had a bit of a meltdown at school.” 

Nedley took in the information and nodded slowly in understanding. “I see.”

Waverly nodded slowly. “And worse, I freaked out on Nicole…” 

Nedley raised an eyebrow. “Nicole?”

Waverly looked up at him surprised he wouldn’t know her yet. “Nicole Haught, her family just moved here.”

Nedley clicked his tongue. “Ah yes, our esteemed guests from Kansas City.” 

“Yes them. But that’s besides the point.” Waverly sighed. “She was trying to be nice to me and I blew up at her...I can’t face her right now.” She muttered eyes looking up to see the waitress, Jolene bringing her the vanilla milkshake she’d ordered. The woman, in her yellow dress and floral apron came by and sat the glass down. 

“Anything else Randy?” She leaned back grabbing her ticketbook. 

“Just a double burger with cheese for me. You want anything Miss Earp?” 

Waverly looked down at the menu in front of her, short and sweet was an understatement. “Um… Can I just have a waffle breakfast…” She bit her lip and looked up at Jolene who raised an eyebrow. 

“Breakfast for lunch?” She chuckled. “You want bacon or sausage?” 

“Bacon. And can I get my eggs scrambled?” She wringed her hands together under the table. 

“Sure honey. Anything else?” She looked between the two, who both shook their heads. 

“Alright I’ll get that right in, enjoy.” She quickly shuffled back, sticking a ticket onto the spindle.

Waverly turned back to Nedley. “Are you gonna make me go back to school Sheriff?” 

Nedley chuckled. “Oh I suppose I should...but I think I’ll let it slide this time.” He gave her a wink.

Waverly let out a sigh of relief. “Thank jesus.” She chuckled realizing how dramatic she was being. “Sorry.” 

Nedley shrugged. “No worries from me Miss Earp.” He took another sip of his coffee. “But in exchange how about you tell me what’s got you so worked up about?” 

Waverly sighed and took the metal milkshake straw into her mouth sucking up just a little bit of shake. 

“I was thinking about Wynonna...and Willa.” She took in a deep breath. “And Mama.”

Nedley nodded slowly and placed his hands on the table. “I wondered as much.”

“Daddy too…” She muttered. 

Nedley let out a sigh. “Terrible business.” He trailed off. 

“Yeah…” 

After a moment Nedley leaned in, resting his arms on the table now. 

“It’s hard getting over things like that…” His eyes held a deep sadness. “When I turned 18, just a few days after actually, they pulled my draft number and off I went to Vietnam. When I was there I saw things...things I’ll never forget, believe me Waverly I know how hard it is to work through things. But the important thing is you’re trying.” He gave her a smile. 

“People help us get through the dark times, and even when we feel alone, you know there’s always somebody out there who’s looking out for you.” He picked up his coffee cup once again. “You got your aunt and uncle, god knows they love you like you’re their own, and even though I know she’s been gone you got Wynonna.” He took another drink, pausing to collect his thoughts. 

“Perhaps it isn’t the best of me to say but you may never get over it...but you will learn to cope with it. It just takes time. And you know, I’ll support you too. I was there that night too, if you remember. If you need an unbiased party to talk to who knows what you’re going through...why don’t you give me a call sometime. Anytime really.” He chuckled and finished off his coffee, setting it down off to the side to let Jolene know he was ready for a refill. 

“I’m on your side kid. Keep that in mind.” 

Waverly nodded along, but she didn’t know if he was telling the truth, God knows she wanted to believe him though.

The rest of their meal went by rather smoothly and quickly. Nedley tried not to press Waverly too hard, figuring if she wanted to talk about something she was and as soon as they were finished he paid Jolene and took her home.

Soon enough he pulled into the driveway of the McCready homestead. Nedley turned to Waverly. “You gonna be alright kid?”

Waverly sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know...but I’m going to try.” 

Nedley smiled. “Well that’s good enough for me. Now go on and get some rest, have your aunt give me a call if she’s asking questions.” 

Waverly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door ready to leave the car, but she paused. 

“Thank you Sheriff Nedley.” 

Nedley waved her off. “Ain’t no thing Miss Earp. Now go on’ get.” He shooed her away and Waverly couldn’t help but comply, quickly gathering her things and heading back into the homestead. 

Nedley watched her get into the house before he began to reverse out of the driveway, his thoughts drifted back to the night that crashed the world around little Waverly Earp's ears. He sighed and quickly left before he got caught up in his thoughts about that night. 

The night Sheriff Ward Earp tried to murder his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter coming soon! Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions <3 
> 
> You're all lovely people :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole receives some bad news from Ms. Gardner, Waverly rides a horse, and things don't go quite as planned. Emotional baggage and emotional roller coasters anyone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter took quite a bit longer than anticipated. I'll explain what's going on with me at the end so stay tuned for that, in the meantime I hope you're prepared for some fun emotional baggage. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Friday rolled around, but Waverly didn’t return to school that week and Nicole couldn’t help but feel like she’d done something wrong. She knew deep down of course, that Waverly was the one in the wrong, but she felt like an insensitive fool. That feeling only got worse when she showed up for orchestra that day and received a very unpleasant piece of news from Ms. Gardner. 

Mercedes had called Nicole over, a grim expression on her face, which was the first bad sign. 

Nicole walked over to her, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Can I help you with something Ms. Gardner.”

Mercedes bit her lip and ran her fingers through her mane of red hair. 

“Miss Earp… gave me a phone call this morning.” She let out a sigh. “She doesn’t think she can accompany you for the festival.” She folded her arms. “And I have to agree with her. You only had a few weeks to prepare and it’s already been 5 days and you haven’t even picked a piece yet have you?”

Nicole blinked at Mercedes, gawping at her like she’d grown an extra head. “She...isn’t going to play with me?” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you kidding me?” She sighed and flopped into a pew taking her face into her hands.

Mercedes sighed and rubbed Nicole's back in a comforting gesture. "I know it's frustrating… but you can still play in the festival if you play something unaccompanied?" She suggested, but she could tell by Nicole's reaction that she wasn't going to get anywhere on that today. 

"Look… why don't you head home for the evening, think about it over the weekend and let me know what you decide Monday?" 

Nicole nodded "I might have something backlogged that I could play…' she trailed off and stood up once again slinging her things over her shoulder. "Thanks for letting me know." The teen turned on heel and quickly weaved through the gathering group of students as they made their way to their seats. 

As Nicole left the church the familiar crowd gathered around leftover cars waved her over but she wasn't in the mood to deal with them today, she was frustrated. Extremely frustrated, but more than that she was worried. 

Lost in thought she didn't even notice the oversized oaf bounding up to stand in front of her, which naturally caused her to run directly into the bulky mass that was Champ Hardy. The collision made her drop her things onto the pavement.

“Shit!” Nicole exclaimed as her bag spilled its contents everywhere, luckily she was quick enough that she caught her Violin case before it dropped. The redhead glared up at the boy. "What do you want, Champ?"

The boy scratched his head sheepishly. "Haha, sorry about that. I was just like, wondering if you were still coming to the game tonight?" 

Nicole blinked a few times at him. In her frustration she'd forgotten entirely about her commitment. She looked at Champs blue and white football jersey and bit her lip trying to come up with an excuse. 

Her silence was awkward to say the least, even the usually oblivious Champ began shifting from one foot to the other waiting for Nicole to say something. 

Nicole knew she couldn't make up anything believable. She swallowed and nodded her head. "Yes! I'll be there, but right now I actually have somewhere to be so like. I'll catch 6ou later." She crouched down and began gathering her scattered school supplies.

Champ crouched down and somehow managed to get more in the way as his big meaty claws grabbed at her things. 

"Well yeah thats cool. But like afterwards me and steph and chrissy are gonna go to Robin's place and have a few beers. Shoot some cans and shit if you wanted to come with?" He spoke as though he really believed Nicole would have been interested in such things.

It was a nice gesture, she had to admit, but a bunch of drunken teenagers shooting guns unsupervised sounded like the last thing she wanted to do, especially when she had something much more important to get around to. 

"Sure! I'll see you at the game Champ. Good luck." She threw the last of her things in her bag and flung it over her shoulder. Jogging past Champ and up to the bike rack where her bicycle was chained up, she spun the combination quickly, unlocking the bike, and away she went, peddling at a brisk but comfortable pace as she made her way back home. 

As soon as she rode up the driveway she dropped the bike onto the grass and ran the way up to the door, throwing it open without much of a thought. Her mother sat on the couch, a glass of wine in one hand and a Harlequin Romance in the other featuring some muscular blonde hunk on the cover brandishing a sword with a damsel on his arm, the title conveniently covering her face.

Nicole didn't bother taking off her shoes, she wasn't staying long, she trudged up to Marie Haught.

"Now Nicole Rayleigh Haught, why in the devil are you treading those dirty shoes all over my floors?" She dog-eared a page and closed her book. Looking at her daughter.

Nicole felt her stomach drop when her mother spoke her full name. But there was no time for such feelings. "Do we have a phone book for the town yet?" She dropped her things on a bench near the door and jogged over to the wall phone, sitting neatly in its perch. 

Marie furrowed her brow. "Now wait a minute, aren't you in orchestra until five o'clock? You best not be cutting class Nicole." She stood up, bouncing over to her daughter and she looked up at the much much taller girl sternly. "You answer me right this second." 

"Jesus Mama I got let out early today. Now do we have a phone book or not because I have to call somebody." Nicole was clearly out of breath from her ride.

"...it's in the drawer on the end table." The woman raised an eyebrow at her daughter. But retreated for now back to her glass of wine and Fabio's glorious abs.

Nicole opened the drawer with haste and slammed the heavy book down on the table causing it to rattle as she opened up the book and frantically searched for the name 'Earp' anywhere in the damn book with not a single result. "Goddamnit there's less people in this town than in my old school and I still can't find the damn number!" She muttered to herself thumbing through the book to no avail, not a single Earp in Purgatory, not a single Earp in ghost river county.

Her mother couldn't help but become concerned with the way her daughter was acting. "Now Nicole who is it you're trying to call so much?" She set her book down once again.

Nicole shook her head. "The girl who's supposed to accompany me bailed and I need to convince her to come back." She shut the book and filed through the drawer some more until she found the school phone directory, she filed through its 20 or so pages but again there was no Earp, however she found the name Waverly under the McCready household. Nicole was still far too new to the school to know if this was a different Waverly but it was worth a shot. She held open the book and punched in the number quickly, too quickly really, her fingers almost slipping up multiple times and she held the phone up to her ear, it rang several times and just when Nicole was about to give up when somebody finally picked up.

"McCready residence?" A man's gruff voice spoke on the other end.

Nicole suddenly felt a bit of intimidation, realizing she was about to maybe get into an argument with a girl who very well could just have a fever, but she had gotten this far.

"Um hi, is Waverly there?" 

The man paused a second. "Waverly is out riding at the moment, now she'll probably be back in an hour or so if you wanna call again then? Who is this anyways?" He finally asked.

Nicole swallowed and considered lying about her name. "This is Nicole, from English class." She opted to tell the truth at the last second. 

The man on the other end grumbled something Nicole couldn't quite understand, but for some reason, she couldn't explain it to herself. Nicole stuffed down her pride and began to spin a web. 

“I have some things that Mrs. Lucado asked me to bring by since we’re working together on our project. On Catcher in the Rye?” 

The man made a grunt of affirmation. “I see. Well why don’t you just swing by the ranch later this evening then?”

Nicole sighed in relief, she had hoped the man she now knew to be Waverly’s uncle wouldn’t ask too many questions, she didn’t want to lie more than she had to. 

“Yes that would be perfect, I could come by around 5ish?”

“I’ll let her know to expect you then.” Curtis replied and the line went dead. 

Not much of a talker, Nicole mused, hanging up the phone she put the directory up and looked up to see her mother watching her, a quizzical expression on her face. 

Nicole looked down at the floor. “Yes?” 

Marie shook her head. “Oh nothing sweetie, I just thought you were going to that football game tonight.” She took a sip of her wine, swirling the dark red liquid in its glass. 

Nicole nodded. “Y-yeah, I’m going to swing by Waverly’s house and then I’m going to go from there….speaking of… Is there any chance I could take the car?” She gave her a puppy dog pout.

The older woman rolled her eyes. "As long as you promise not to get pulled over." She resigned herself back to her book. Nicole broke out in a smile.

“Thank you Mama!” She hopped over to the woman and gave her a kiss on her cheek. 

Marie smiled and squeezed her daughter. “Alright alright, now go on and get. I don’t know what's going on with that pianist but you better sort it out, you need to start getting ready for college soon if you want to get into a decent school." 

Nicole sighed and stepped back. "I know…" she held back the irritation in her voice. "I'm gonna go get ready." She nodded her head back towards the stairs and made her way up to the room, her mother only giving a nod of acknowledgement, fully engrossed in her romance, leaving Nicole to jog back up to her room to prepare for her evening. 

Elsewhere Waverly stood atop a familiar hill, looking out over the horizon bathed in the golden light of the autumnal evening sun, the overgrown waving wheat almost obscured the dilapidated house that she once lived in. The wind whipped through her hair and it billowed in the wind. She looked up at the sky and sighed contently. 

The sound of her horse stamping her hooves behind her drew her out of her content daze and back down to the Earth. She chuckled as the animal snorted and turned her head towards Waverly. 

“Alright alright, lets go Angel.” She stepped up to the mare and took her reins in her hand, hooking her foot in the stirrup she hoisted her leg over the girls back,settling into the saddle, the extra height making the homestead even more visible in the overgrown wheat.

She took one more look back at the old rotting house, something about it today. She was a long way from home and she knew she should get back before it got dark, but something in the house was calling her.

She shook her head, shaking the thoughts from her mind. She would come back another day, she decided, earlier so she could actually avoid riding home in the dark. 

She leaned back in the saddle and clicked her tongue signalling Angel to turn back home and soon enough the pair rode together in a comfortable trot, the sounds of nature washed over Waverly and she felt herself relax in a way she rarely did, the chirping of birds blended into the wind and Angels hooves trotting against the hard ground, further immersing the teen in the natural beauty of the plains.

Of course all things must eventually end, and soon the Ranch came into view, her Aunt and Uncle seated on the stoop, deep in conversation, Waverly smiled at their comfort, their normalcy. She hoped that one day she could have something like they had. She sighed and closed her eyes imagining such a life, 40 years from now seated on her stoop with a man she loved. She wondered if such a man even existed, not even considering whether or not he would love her. 

Curtis’ voice interrupted her thoughts. “You were gone a while.” His voice was gruff from years of smoking, though he had quit a few years ago, his voice never truly recovered. 

Waverly dismounted from the saddle and took Angel's reins into her hands, clasping the leather straps tightly she guided the horse up to the side of the house, hitching her to the post in front of the porch. 

“Lots to see.” She looked up at him through the railing. 

Gus raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Ain’t you seen everything out there by now?” It was a rhetorical question, naturally. 

Curtis stood up from his rocking chair and sauntered up to the railing leaning over it, a glass of lemonade in his hand. “Oh before I forget, some girl from school is swinging by tonight to give you some missing work or something, what was her name…” He trailed off and turned back to Gus to try and see if she knew, but she just shrugged in response. 

“Well whatever, it don’t really matter, she said she was gonna swing by in…” He looked down at his watch. “Well I suppose she’ll be here any minute now.” He remarked, the hands on his watch indicating it as already ten past 5’oclock. 

Waverly felt her mouth run dry and a pit form in her stomach. “W-well why in the hell did you agree to let her come by so soon, God above I look like a mess.” She ran up the porch stairs and pushed past Curtis who just gawped at her. 

“Did I say something?” He called after her but Waverly was already deep inside the house.

The girl’s heart pounded in her chest, suddenly overcome with a deep anxiety that she knew exactly who was coming to see her, and she knew that it had nothing to do with work for school. She ran up the stairs to her room, ripping her ponytail out, her deep chestnut hair falling around her shoulders and framing her lithe face she took in a deep breath. 

“Ok...just try to look presentable Waverly…” She muttered to herself and picked up her brush, quickly untangling her hair, trying to get as much dirt and grime from her ride out of it as she could. Luckily her dark hair hid most of it, but as she leaned in to get a close look at her face she spotted some dark spots of dirt around her face so quickly she jogged to the bathroom to wash her face. 

As she turned the water tap on, something in the pipe got stuck, the handle jamming in place so Waverly had to force it open slamming the tap to full strength. The water sprayed out from the tap with far more pressure than it should have, splashing her shirt with freezing cold water that made Waverly yelp and jump backwards away from the sink. 

She managed to turn the tap off quickly but the damage was already done, her white top was completely soaked through from under her chest down, the fabric moulding to her body. 

She sighed in irritation, pulling her glasses from her face, she sat them down near the basin and looked at her messy visage in the mirror.

Part of her wished she could reach into the mirror and slap herself for allowing her to get so damn dirty, but since she couldn’t, she’d have to settle for completing what she had initially come in here for in the first place.

She turned the handle once again, slowly this time allowing the water to come to temperature before she splashed her face, closing her eyes tightly she scrubbed lightly where she knew the dirt spots were, effectively washing them out. 

After quick inspection in the mirror, she determined she looked clean enough to finish her routine to make herself presentable and made her way back to her room just as she heard a car pull up in the driveway, she’d have to move fast if she was going to change her shirt before she came inside so Waverly began to pull her top over her head, but in her haste she’d forgotten to tuck away her rosary and now, her shirt was stuck in her hair, or maybe her necklace, she couldn’t tell, but the point was, Waverly Earp stood in her room, arms over her head with her entire torso on display. 

“Just my damn luck…” She grumbled, trying to force the shirt off of her but it was no use. That shirt had decided its lot in life and it was determined to stay. 

She of course didn’t manage to hear the car door opening, nor the front door, or even the footsteps coming up the stairs until way too late. 

And there Nicole stood in her doorway, face as red as her hair as Waverly struggled to change her shirt, unaware of her presence. Her eyes studied the gentle curves of Waverly’s figure, making mental notes of every blemish, every scar, and every tone. Nicole had to physically force herself to turn away from the gentle teardrop shape that formed her breasts, turning in the doorway she coughed making her presence known. 

Waverly spun around and screamed at the sudden intruder nearly falling over in the process. “Christ Nicole!” She shouted at her, arms still stuck in her shirt, she breathed heavily as her heart pounded in her chest. 

“I-I’m sorry I just got here, I didn’t see anything I swear.” She didn’t dare look Waverly in the face, lest the other girl see her tomato impression.

Waverly watched her intently, eyes looking up and down at Nicoles body language, her arms folded across her chest, facing away from her, leaned against the wall with one foot up. Waverly sighed and a small smile came to her face as she realized that Nicole was nearly as embarrassed as she were. 

“Well… since you’re here.” She turned her back to Nicole. “I’m kind of stuck here...could you help?” She raised her arms back over her head. “I think my necklace is caught in my hair…” She muttered, still very embarrassed by the whole situation. 

Nicole paused for a second before responding. “...S-sure sorry, let me get it.” She stepped up to Waverly, taking the chance to study the musculature of her back.

She was very...very thin, Nicole deduced, her ribs easily visible both from in front and behind, her waist narrow, though not to a healthy degree and the girls head didn’t even come up to Nicole’s chin. She bit her lip and frowned as she reached into Waverly’s hair to try and untangle her necklace, but the soft long flowing locks quickly washed away her worries as she took in her scent. Waverly seemed to give off a natural scent of vanilla, even though Nicole could tell she wasn’t wearing any perfume, she couldn’t help but close her eyes as she snaked her fingers into her tresses and pulled her cross free from its entrapment. Once that was done Nicole absentmindedly dropped her hands down to Waverly’s waist, holding her gingerly, like a piece of fine china that she feared to break. She let out a content sigh. The girls lithe waist felt right at home in her hands.

Waverly tensed up as Nicole moved her hands a bit lower making the redhead snap back to reality, realizing just what she was doing. 

“Jesus sorry.” She dropped her hands to her sides and stepped back as Waverly brought her shirt back down over her head, now free from her hair. 

“It’s...It’s alright...could you, you know.” She made a spinning motion with her fingers and Nicole cocked her head to the side confused for a moment before she figured out exactly what Waverly meant. 

“Oh yeah sorry.” She chuckled nervously and turned her back to Waverly, allowing the other girl to change her shirt quickly, tossing the damp shirt into her hamper, she pulled a red and blue baseball shirt over her head, the word “Shorty’s” situating comfortably across her chest. She took in a breath, trying to calm herself down a little before she spoke once again. 

“You can turn around now…”

Nicole did slowly and was faced with Waverly Earp in her natural state, her hair down over her shoulders, a soft redness on her skin from the hours she’d been outside earlier and without a hint of the usual mousiness she carried at school. 

“Wow… you look good…” She muttered.

Waverly looked at her feet blushing. “Thanks…”

The pair stood in an awkward silence, for an uncomfortably long time, neither wishing to break the ice first, but eventually Waverly broke silence first. 

“Nicole why are you here?”

The redhead lifted her head and sighed, folding her arms once again. “Ms. Gardner told me you were dropping out of the solo festival.”

Waverly sighed and nodded slowly, that was what she had figured Nicole was coming to talk about. She gathered her thoughts for a moment before responding. 

“Yes...I am. I’m sorry but I can’t accompany you on such short notice...and frankly I don’t know if I want to at all.” She sighed and walked to her desk chair which she sat down in, crossing her legs like a lady.

Nicole clenched her fist and bit her lip. “Why not?” She took a step towards Waverly. 

The brunette had no real answer for her. “I...there's just no time for the festival. It’s this weekend and we haven’t rehearsed at all yet.” She held up her hands in a manner alike a surrender. 

Nicole nodded. “Okay well that I can understand, and I don’t really care, I have some partita’s prepared I can play, but why can’t you at all?” She folded her arms indignantly. 

Waverly looked down at her feet for a moment before looking back up to Nicole. “I…” She trailed off. “You’re...Nicole you’re a big popular city girl… you don’t need me. There are plenty of other pianists around here who would be more than happy to accompany you.” She said, her tone was quiet, timid and reserved.

“You play better than anybody I ever played with back in Kansas City you know.”

“As if… I’m a self taught loner loser… you deserve someone better.”

“That’s bullshit.” 

Waverly’s eyebrows furrowed at Nicoles response.

“It’s bullshit and you know it Waverly… It’s something else…” She folded her arms. 

“Does this have something to do with the other day?” She asked and knelt down in front of Waverly, eye to eye with her.

Waverly avoided her gaze. “What if it does…”

Nicole let out an exasperated sigh. “Look I’m sorry… That was out of line, I just thought since we were friends it was alright.” She placed a hand on Waverly’s knee in comfort. 

Waverly slapped the hand away. “We’re not friends Nicole, you don’t even know me. I don’t have friends Nicole, and I’m not some sad little country girl you need to come and fix.”

Nicole let out a sigh and retracted her hand. “It’s not like that…” She trailed off.

“Then what is it like Nicole? Because that’s how it seems to me.” Her voice was getting higher and the ginger teen could tell that she was getting close to losing her cool.

Nicole knew she needed to chose her next words carefully.

“You just always seem so lonely Waves.” 

Waverly bit her lip, biting back the words on the tip of her tongue. “I am alone.”

“You’re not alone Waves.” Nicole squeezed her arm lightly and rubbed it to try and comfort her. 

Waverly sighed and pushed herself up from her chair and walked over to her bed.

“But that’s the thing Nicole...I am alone. I’m an orphan Nicole, I had two sisters, one of them is fucking dead. The other abandoned me here in Purgatory and took off to go globe trotting. I haven’t seen her in five years.” 

Nicole was taken aback by all of this, unsure how to react she just stood there.

“And you see that’s not even the best part. Sure it sucks being an orphan, but you know what is way worse? I am the reason that I’m a fucking orphan Nicole.” She stepped up to her and prodded her in the chest. 

“Because you know what? I’m a damn bastard too.” She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to collect her thoughts in some manner but by this point she was just ranting and oversharing and she knew it, but she didn’t even care anymore. 

“My ‘father’ who it turns out wasn’t even my Dad because my mother went and had an affair with some firefighter named Julian and got knocked up with me. So you know what my ‘father’ did when he found out I wasn’t his?” 

Nicoles heart dropped as she put two and two together and her expression showed it. 

“That’s right Nicole, my ‘father’ Sheriff Ward Earp went and murdered my actual dad, who I never even got to know and then came home to off us too-”

“Jesus Waverly I’m sorry-” Nicole started.

“Oh no no no there’s more. You notice how I’m alive right? Well that’s because after Daddy went and killed Mama and Willa my other sister Wynonna shot him in the back and killed him too.”

Nicole was stunned speechless, her original purpose for coming here completely forgotten as Waverly barred her life story before her and Nicole realized now just how deep this ran, and she knew that no amount of cheesy sweet lines that she could deliver to Waverly would make her okay. 

Waverly finally stopped to take a breath, tears welling up in her eyes now.

“A-and you know what that’s all fucking horrid right? Well for a few years me and ‘Nonna lived here with Gus and Curtis but eventually she just took off too, leaving me all by myself in this… in this God-forsaken hellhole.” 

She fell to her knees and began to sob, curling up into the fetal position Nicole didn’t know what to do, so she did what came naturally, she sat down in front of Waverly and pulled her into her arms, squeezing her tight and letting her cry it out. Nicole held her for what seemed like an hour until eventually Waverly cried herself to sleep in her arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again, thanks for reading to the end friend.
> 
> So I guess this is the part where I say this may be the last chapter I post for a while and I didn't get anywhere near as much ground covered as I had originally intended but if I don't post this now I don't think it will ever get posted, at least not for a while so here it is. 
> 
> Now, what's going on with me; Simple really. I'm pregnant, like really pregnant. This baby was due last week so really I'm about to pop whenever, and when I do naturally I'll probably be unable to write for some time. I do have some stuff written ahead but it's all just outline at this point so we'll just have to wait and see if I can get any free time to write over the next few months. 
> 
> Hopefully this contained enough fun drama to keep you satisfied for a while.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> TL;DR: I'm big pregnant, might not write in a while. <3
> 
> Thanks again for reading.


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